Left parties protest power price hike

Left parties protest power price hike

Leaders and activists of left-leaning parties stand with a banner during a demonstration Sunday morning in front of Jatiya Press Club in the capital protesting the power price hike. Photo: TV grab

The left-leaning parties staged demonstration today in front of Jatiya Press Club (JPC) in the capital protesting the power price hike.

Around 400 activists of the two left-leaning parties -- Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) -- took to Abdul Gani Road as police foiled their scheduled programme to lay siege to the energy ministry, inside the Bangladesh Secretariat.

The processionists faced police obstruction at a place between the energy ministry and JPC few minutes after they brought out the procession from the press club around 10:30am.

Following the protest, transport movements on the road remain suspended till 12:40pm when the report was filed.

The energy regulator on March 13 raised electricity prices by 6.96 percent with effect from March 1.

Both the parties however wrapped up their demonstration around 12:05pm.

Ten minutes after the activists left the place, around 300 activists of Ganatantrik Bam Morcha moved to besiege the ministry to face the same situation.

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At one stage of police resistance, the activists engaged in a scuffle with the law enforcers.

The Ganatantrik Bam Morcha activists left the place around 1:00pm after holding a rally there.